PoAF 's Northrop F-5F

[DogfighterZen]

"With the end of the war in Africa in 1974, it became evident that the Portuguese Air Force urgently needed to be renewed, as the aircraft at its disposal were not only worn out by the war effort but obsolete in the European context. fighter aviation, the PoAF needed a modern fighter jet capable of meeting the country's air defense needs, mission performed at the time by the old F-86F Saber with the "Falcons" Squadron 201 BA5 in Monte Real.
The failure of the PoAF was already evident at the time of the colonial war, but the war effort had not generated any real solution. Few F-86s were operational (in 1975, 12 aircraft were referenced in flight conditions), and NATO-level Air Force plans indicated their replacement by the end of 1976 with at least 16 fighter-bomber aircraft.
To compliment the Saber, the PoAF also acquired the Fiat G.91 R / 4 in Germany to be used in Africa but at the end of the war they returned to Portugal. While very useful in guerrilla combat operations, the Fiat was also a completely outdated aircraft for European theater, which needed to be replaced quickly.
Shortly before the April 1974 revolution, which led to the regime's change, the previous government tried to acquire new combat aircraft in France and made several contacts for the purchase of Mirage aircraft. The famous French fighter plane had been seriously considered by the Air Force and the sale of the plane was even authorized by French Prime Minister Pierre Messmer, but the French proposal did not please the Portuguese government because of the restrictions that France placed on parking aircraft in Guinea and Cape Verde.
In addition to the French hypothesis, an offer by a German company to buy F-5E aircraft had also emerged, but due to the arms embargo against Portugal, the proposal would be withdrawn and as such, the PoAF relied essentially on US support to modernize its combat strength, because only with the counterparts of the use of the Lajes air base in the Azores would it be possible to obtain funds for such plans.
The first contacts at this level were made since June 1974, between then-Air Force chief of staff, General Diogo Neto, and Colonel Wilkerson, head of the Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), based at the American Embassy in Lisbon. On the morning of June 5, Diogo Neto meets Wilkerson in his office and talks about his plans for the PoAF. At combat aviation level, the Air Force's goal was to have two squadrons, one equipped with the F-5E Tiger II and one with the F-4E Phantom.
In addition, the PoAF also wanted the Northrop T-38A Talon to replace the T-33 in the training function and the T-41 Mescalero to replace the old Chipmunk. Surprised by the magnitude of the request, Wilkerson promises to take the Portuguese plans to the US Administration, noting that the arms embargo was still in force at the time against Portugal and that such modernization intentions would be very difficult for the Americans to fulfill.
In his reply, Diogo Neto points out that aircraft to be purchased should only be used on the European continent and that the Air Force intends to initiate a phasing out of all former colonies.
It also addresses the question of how Portugal would pay for these aircraft, a problem that, in the view of General Diogo Neto, should be resolved within the framework of negotiations on the Lajes base agreement, something that was obviously beyond MAAG's scope. which is clearly stated by Colonel Wilkerson. In its comment to the State Department on this meeting, the US Embassy in Lisbon considers Portuguese concerns to modernize the Air Force genuine, which leads to the subsequent lifting of the existing arms embargo that which had been preventing the deal from being made.
With this development, the PoAF requests the loan of some T-38 trainers to begin preparing it's ground crews and pilots for the transition to operate supersonic jets. The USAF agrees and in 1976, 6 unassembled airframes arrive inside a C-5 Galaxy and are delivered to the 201st fighter squadron who operated the F-86.
Still, the dimension of the PoAF's request was such that the US government was reluctant to agree because the Portuguese government did not have the funds needed to pay for the number of aircraft that the PoAF wanted so, after several meetings during the year of 1979, an agreement was reached and the PoAF would have to settle for a much smaller order that would be paid in the most part with the loan of the Lajes air base for use by USAFE forces.
During the next 4 years, meetings were held to confirm all the details of the deal and in May of 1980, the last documents were signed at a meeting held in Lisbon between senior officials of the government and air force of both countries, confirming the beginning of the process of the PoAF's combat aviation renewal.
The new arrangement would see the F-4E excluded from the list as it was deemed too expensive and would compromise the PoAF's ability to sustain the fleet in good condition long enough to justify such an investment.
With this deal, the number of F-5 airframes would be increased from 32 to 48 with spare parts and engines, allowing for two fighter squadrons to be fully equipped. Included in this new arrangement would be 10 of the twin seat F-5F variant that was to be used for advanced weapons training.
Besides being cheap in relation to bigger and more complex fighters like the F-4, it's ease of maintenance and durability were some of the most important factors that led the PoAF's generals to ask for this fighter. There was also the plus of being a supersonic aircraft, which would be a major upgrade compared to the Fiat G-91R and F-86 that the F-5 was to replace.
In March of 1981, the first batch of 12 fighters, 10 F-5E and 2 F-5F, was delivered and their assembly began at OGMA's (Oficinas Gerais de Manutenção Aeronáutica) general aeronautical maintenance workshops at Alverca. The rest of the fighters were to be gradually delivered with the last 4 being delivered in July of 1984
The F-5 became the first combat capable supersonic aircraft in the PoAF's history and the Portuguese pilots soon began training and quickly acclaimed the small fighter for it's flying characteristics and reliability.
Flying with the PoAF for over 30 years, the F-5s soldiered on until the beginning were retired in August of 2012, being replaced by the new generation of Lockheed Martin F-16 fighters, the F-16V."

[TheChronicOne]

Brilliant, mate!!!  You know I dig the scheme and the plane both......  more of my favorites.  TV missiles, yay!! In flight sims they're some of the funnest weapons to use. 

In the future maybe the French aren't so uptight and we can see that Portugal Mirage?     In a different alternate timeline!        And I want to see the T-38, and T-41 especially, too.     

[DogfighterZen]

Brilliant, mate!!!  You know I dig the scheme and the plane both......  more of my favorites.  TV missiles, yay!! In flight sims they're some of the funnest weapons to use. 

In the future maybe the French aren't so uptight and we can see that Portugal Mirage?     In a different alternate timeline!        And I want to see the T-38, and T-41 especially, too.     

I knew you'd like it, brotha, we have a similar taste when comes to fighter jets.
The Mirage will be in a different timeline indeed. You know, it's been on my list for a long time so maybe this is the right time to start building it...
The T-38 was the first supersonic jet in the PoAF's inventory and it's one of the most successful planes in the PoAF's history flying from 1976 to 1993 without a single accident or crash. I believe that most Portuguese modellers have one built or a kit of it in the stash and i'm no exception to the rule, although i only have the Trumpeter 1/48 kit. I wanted to buy the 1/72 Sword kit but that seems to be almost impossible nowadays as they're very hard to find... Besides, it is a real world subject so, not a priority on my list.
Now, i'm blaming you for this, i'm gonna have to pull the PJ productions kit out of the box...

[chrisonord]

This is great, one of  my favourites 

[DogfighterZen]

This is great, one of  my favourites 

Glad you like it, mate! 

[PR19_Kit]

That PoAF colour scheme is very attractive, could be used all over the place. 

[DogfighterZen]

That PoAF colour scheme is very attractive, could be used all over the place. 

I most certainly agree, my friend but then again, i may be just a tiny bit biased on that matter...

[TheChronicOne]

Brilliant, mate!!!  You know I dig the scheme and the plane both......  more of my favorites.  TV missiles, yay!! In flight sims they're some of the funnest weapons to use. 

In the future maybe the French aren't so uptight and we can see that Portugal Mirage?     In a different alternate timeline!        And I want to see the T-38, and T-41 especially, too.     

I knew you'd like it, brotha, we have a similar taste when comes to fighter jets.
The Mirage will be in a different timeline indeed. You know, it's been on my list for a long time so maybe this is the right time to start building it...
The T-38 was the first supersonic jet in the PoAF's inventory and it's one of the most successful planes in the PoAF's history flying from 1976 to 1993 without a single accident or crash. I believe that most Portuguese modellers have one built or a kit of it in the stash and i'm no exception to the rule, although i only have the Trumpeter 1/48 kit. I wanted to buy the 1/72 Sword kit but that seems to be almost impossible nowadays as they're very hard to find... Besides, it is a real world subject so, not a priority on my list.
Now, i'm blaming you for this, i'm gonna have to pull the PJ productions kit out of the box...

Ha!! Nice.  That's pretty sweet about the T-38s... we haven't near that clean of a record with ours and in fact one went down about 3 weeks ago....    Hell, I'd say we have a pretty bad record with the T-38...     .. you know.... for being the country of origin and all that. Probably just a numbers things but I'd like to think the PoAF instructors, etc. are really good at what they do! 

When I liquidated all my 1/48 kits the Sword T-38 was one of three I KEPT.     Kind of a pet airplane. I also kept a Fujimi one for the most glorious artwork on the box. 

[DogfighterZen]

Ha!! Nice.  That's pretty sweet about the T-38s... we haven't near that clean of a record with ours and in fact one went down about 3 weeks ago....    Hell, I'd say we have a pretty bad record with the T-38...     .. you know.... for being the country of origin and all that. Probably just a numbers things but I'd like to think the PoAF instructors, etc. are really good at what they do! 

They probably are cause they've had to keep the air force going with significant difficulties because of budget restraints since 1974. In fact, i've read an article some time ago, related to the PoAF's engineers and their work with the Pratt&Whitney engines and the overall maintenance quality of the F-16 fleet.
It also said they have one of Europe's most efficient engine maintenance facilities and that USAF engineers came here to learn some different methods of keeping the engines in good condition. They've also been converting the old F-16A models into MLU birds right here in Portugal. They first did it with the PoAF's fleet and in recent years, they've sold some Vipers to the Romanian AF that were also upgraded here.
Keep in mind that they've also built 66 Chipmunk aircraft and have been operating them since the 1950s so that's gotta be due to good maintenance and operation of the type, right?
We don't have no money so we have to make the best with what we've got.

[zenrat]

Looks great mate.

[Old Wombat]

Looks a treat! Excellent work, mate!

[DogfighterZen]

Glad you like it, gents!
Probably is one of my best models, if not the best, i'm very happy with how it came out!

[NARSES2]

That really has come out well sir 

[DogfighterZen]

That really has come out well sir 

Thank you, my friend! Glad you like the result!   

[comrade harps]

That is nice!